Live Feed From Spy in the Sky

You could hard wire it......increase signal strength......install FHSS- Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum... This type of signal is highly resistant to deliberate jamming as it generates a channel hopping sequence using a sophisticated algorithm generated by the receiver system....

Solareagle

Your comment on frequency hopping makes sense since the pic flickers on and off when the chopper is in range. I can't really access the receiver since I've tucked it up into the interior light box near the rear view mirror but it would be interesting to know if others have had the same problem.

There is usually a feedback section on Ebay by previous purchasers.....I would start there....

"Wireless"= "Crock of Shite"
Just my humble opinion of course....
Del

The WIFI obviously is not a protected link to the camera. Any WIFI signal can probably get in. Look through the instruction and see if there is a way to link the camera and receiver with some protection from outside signals. If not you may have lots of problems with this unit. You could remove it and try to get some money back by selling it on Ebay to some other gullible person and then purchase a better unit, preferably wired. The police helicopters should have their WIFI protected also, but the reporters probably like it this way. Are you sure it is a police helicopter and not a TV unit?

Its certainly police as I can see the chopper when I pick it up. I won't remove it because its better than pranging your rear end on a bollard and on cold mornings I can see behind when everything is iced up. Also damaging the headlining running wires from the front to the back is not an option and overall I think the units are a great invention.

Thanks anyway fro the comments

You are using a license free wireless transmitter in the 2.4 gHz band. It is a Frequency Modulated (Analogue) device and you are simply picking up other devices. You have to accept any 'interference' as part and parcel of using license free devices. A long time ago this band was used by govt agencies and the law enforcement community to transmit wireless video. Now it has become a vast wasteland of nanny cameras, wifi's and routers as the technology has become cheaper to manufacture consumer products in this band. Vehicle back up cameras do not require the security or expense of Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum hence the use of simple FM technology.

Then, as a controls designer for sanitary process skids, I am often asked why pharmaceutical companies don't want to go wireless. BINGO!

GA Captain Quirk from me. Absolutely, it's not WiFi it's analogue. Possibly 2.4gHz. Were it analogue over 2.4 I'd expect a lot more interference than you're getting. I've also never heard of a proper commercial or government feed operating over analogue 2.4 so either your Police Force has glued something off eBay to the bottom of their helicopter or, as I suspect, your device isn't on the unregulated part of the spectrum. Another reason to suspect you're using an illegal part of the spectrum is the fact that the output from the police feed would almost certainly exceed the maximum allowable for public spectrum. So either you're outside of the law, or the police are.

There's another issue here. If your receiver can pick up the police feed, then the police can pick up your camera output. Or, to put it another way, your output is interfering (very locally) with the police video system. They may resent this. Were I a police operator monitoring a house with a burglary in progress I'd throw a hairy fit if your attempts at parallel parking suddenly overwrote the observation feed.

Start by taking a look at the specifications which should be written on the camera and the receiver. Very small. They should tell you what band it's operating in and you can Google that to see if it's licensed or unlicensed spectrum in the UK. You can also Google the device details to see if you can get a spec sheet for it. If it's on licensed spectrum don't use it. Ofcom (the UK communications regulator) take a dim view of playing les buggaires risable with licensed spectrum. Particularly in this case as you're interfering with the emergency services. While people don't often get jailed for it the fines can be significant and the police have something of an incentive to track you down since it's them you're interfering with.

Sorry this isn't better news but, if it helps, I'm still moderately unsure that you really are picking up the live police feed. It's been a long time since UK police used open comms channels and that bit just doesn't feel right.

Hi all quick update spy in the sky must be a CR4 reader because they have now scrambled the signal. Still get the interference though but just horizontal lines. Must have big ears.